Cosmic lens lets astronomers zoom in on a black hole’s burps

Seeing into the heart of a faraway galaxy could explain how jets of hot material get their start

black hole jets from M87

REACHING OUT  Many supermassive black holes shoot jets of hot material thousands of light-years into space, like this one emerging from the galaxy M87 about 50 million light-years away. Now scientists have seen the beginnings of such a jet from a galaxy billions of light-years away.

Hubble Heritage Team (AURA/STScI), NASA, ESA

Astronomers have caught their best look ever at blobs of hot gas fleeing a supermassive black hole, thanks to a new kind of cosmic magnifying glass.